Kent Wigle reached a major milestone in Klamath Falls this past week. Win # 300 as a High School Football Coach in Oregon came when the Marshfield Pirates put the Klamath Union Pelicans back in the lake by a 33-15 count.

This is a big enough accomplishment that we spent most of the week verifying the number, just to be sure.

(Thanks to Jon Mitchell of the Roseburg News-Review for assistance with the totals.) 

To put the number in perspective, its only happened once before in Oregon, by the legendary Dewey Sullivan of Dayton. Interestingly, also a band of Pirates.

Wigle accumulated the first 134 of these wins at South Umpqua, where he led the Lancers from 1971 thru 1987, including a share of the 1981 State Championship with the Siuslaw Vikings. Wigle moved down stream to Marshfield in 1988, and is now beginning his 20th. year there. Only 88 losses and 3 ties in that time equals 8.3 wins a year, every year, on average for 36 years.

Sullivan accumulated 351, and the only other active coach in the top 10 is Roseburg's Thurman Bell, who reached 280 on September 7 at South Salem.

Long time legendary coaches like Gene Morrow of Newport, Don Requa of Pendleton, and Fred Spielberg of Medford never got close. And unless Tom Smythe, now at Evergreen in Vancouver, Washington, comes back to Oregon, (he needs 44 wins coaching an Oregon team) no one but Bell will do it in a long, long time.

There are coaches who have coached in multiple states, and have totals well into the 200 range, such as Karl Elliott at Dallas, who spent several years in Idaho before coming to Cascade High.

But the distinction of 300 wins at Oregon school(s) is an accomplishment Wigle won't have to share with anyone but Dewey, and maybe in about 2010 with Thurman.

An interesting side note about the enduring quality of the Marshfield program is that #9 on the list belongs to Pete Susick, who ended his career at Marshfield with 235 wins.

Wigle had to deal with the tough Midwestern League competition for many of those wins, and the long win streak Sheldon amassed before redistricting is just one of the obstacles that had to be overcome. It is perhaps slightly easier to accumulate wins in modern times, due to the lengthened schedules that produce 1 or 2 more opportunities to win, as well as expanded playoffs, which allow more teams a chance to win, and real good teams get several wins, as there are more total rounds to go through to get the championship.

Or maybe parity has made it harder? Only 3 of the top 10 are active, and 2 active in Oregon. Either way, a look down the top 10 illustrates the sifnificance of Coach Wigle's accomplishment.

1. Dewey Sullivan, Dayton (351-85-2)

2. Kent Wigle, Marshfield (300-88-3) *

3. Thurman Bell, Roseburg (280-110-1) *

4. Gene Morrow, Newport (376-154-4)

5. Don Requa, Pendleton (273-86-5)

6. Tom Smythe, McNary (256-58-1)

7. Fred Spielberg, Medford (253-62-10)

8. Larry Walker, South Medford (246-69-2)

9. Pete Susick, Marshfield (235-69-18)

10. Bill Dressel, Benson (224-110-2)

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